The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-10-29
PHYSICAL EXERCISE.
What Is Good and What Is Bad for tE
Average Man to Do.

L
culture. but physical culture is some.
thing entirely different from out-doo,
sports as they are carried on at present.
Americans do not take enough exercise.
Many patients that come to the doctor
need outdoor exercise more than they
do medicine. As some one has said,
the dyspepsia from which man suffers
is oftentimes more in his legs than in
his stomach. The great difficulty with
our sports is that they develop one set
of muscles at the expense of the others.
A man who trains for specially is
trained only in the parts of the body
brought chiefly into play in that par
ticular sport or recreation. A tennis
player trains in one way, u runner in
another, while bOatman goes through
an entirely dif'erentcourse from either.
Each of these athletes is strong in one
direction, but he has neglected general
muscular exercises for the sake of de-
veloping a special locality. 1t will be
found that the man who is physically
strong in special sport is weak in
some part of his body. A man, for
instance, who intends to be runner
will SO train as to develop the muscles
of his legs; but he will reduce the
weight of his body above his legs in
order to carry less weight.
Pedestrianism is wholesome when IN
dulged in for pleasure. but is bad in
contests. The professional pedestrian
finally becomes thoroughly broken up;
the stomach and general system are
exhausted by too much exertion.
Rowing is one of the best exercises if
INDUCED in moderately, but an oars
man can row in contest until entirely
exhausted and not know it until he is
taken from his boat paralyzed, SO to
speak.
Base ball is full of danger, especially
to the pitcher. So true is this that the
base ball pitchers arm, as well as the
tennis arm are, recognized in the medi-
cal profession as special diseases. The
exercise in base ball is very violent,
and sooner or later causes overstrain.
Tennis is n violent exercise, and is
liable to be carried too far.
Running is too much of an outburst
to be of service in II general way, and
is only good on account of the previous
training necessary to follow it up. 1t
carries its own remedy with it in the
natural giving out of the legs before
the rest of the body is exhausted.
Training should bring up the general
physical status to point that will en-
able it to endure its utmost and with
just little to spare for the push of the
urgent moment. There should be Just
enough strength left to make the finish
better than the start-to break the rec
ord of the individual, so to speak, and
leave him in better physical condition
than before. The sensible and physio-
logical way for man to take outdoor
sport is acting on medical Authority, to
develop by special exercises the parts of
his body that are weak. Ii a man takes
any pride in Systematically rounded
physique he should give his whole at
tention to the organs that are weak
1t is surprising to me that horseback
exercise is not INDUCED in more than it
is. Many young men spend enough
money on their vices or follies TO enable
them to buy and keep a horse. would
suggest that for those who can not own
a horse, riding clubs might be formed.
Let the horses be used by members of
the clubs just as boats are used by boat
ing clubs. The expense of keeping the
horses, under such conditions, when
divided up among members, would be
small, and the horseback exercise could
be varied with the more vigorous sports
in which most young men now indulge.
In that way the strength of the body
would be more equalized.
| do not know of any outdoor
exercise so suitable for men as the
sports of the field. Hunting is health
ful and beneficial sport. There is just
enough excitement about it to make
the exercise you take beneficial. While
you are walking you are thinking
about Some thing of interest; while your
body is being exercised your brain gets
a stimulus Hunting is good for the
well and good for many who are sick.
l have known invalids, sent to the
South with the advice that they should
90 shooting. to come back restored in
health. The man who combines hunt
ing in the field with horseback riding,
as is done in the South, has the best
kind of outdoor recreation. Field
sports are for young men; the older
ones must be content with fishing or
following the rabbit. 1 recall the case
of the veteran writer for the sporting
papers, Horace Smith. While yet a
young man he was given up by his
physician to die of consumption. He
was in business, and his doctor told
him that he had better stop work and
devote the remainder of his life TO his
dog and gun. Mr.. Smith acted on the
suggestion, and l am willing to admit
that possibly the doctor advised better
than he knew, for this same young man
died only recently at the age of eighty.
In the sporting papers, to which he
was constant and valuable con-
tributor, he constantly made public